The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-05-12
A REMARKABLE VOYAGE.
JoURNRYING TEN THOUSAND MILES AT SEA


Dover Harbor after her ten months toss
ings In two oceans, a whether-worn
| cockle-shsll, sea stained and barnacle-
covered. 1t was Sunday, and the little
boat was hung with streamers of bunting,
their bright colors contrasting oddly with
the wobegone appearance of the hull.
The day was brilliantly fiue, and there
was constant stream Of visitors to see
the Homeward Bound after her adven-
turous voyage. The captain was at
home, and he hailed to me to come
abroad, which 1 did with some difficulty.
for the Homeward Bound is not as ordin
AIRY craft, bu, canvas covered and crank
as bit of cork.
The crew consists of Capt. Nilsson, his
| brother, and a blacksmith, one Olsen,
who couple of years ago were working
| together at little settlement in the
| Orange Free State. The captain, who
| had been at sea for many years previous
| iy, had a store, a blacksmitn's shop, "A
few horses and a bit of land; AMI his
! brother and Olson were in his employ
ment. They had often discussed the
| question whether 1t was possible for an
| open boat to weather the towering win
ter waves off the Cape of Good Hope,
1
| determined to try their luck. They had
their boat to build, which was not an easy
matter $50 miles inland, without proper
materials and tools to work with, and
some of the difficulties the men
overcame remind one of Robinson
| Crusoe's attempt to make boat out
of a tree. For instance, the bent
wood necessary for the construction of
| the hull had to be sawed out of squared
timber, an operation which necessarily
delayed the work. This is only one in
| stance. However after time, the little
| boat was ready to be put Cd the OK
wagon, its length having indeed, been
regulated by the length of that convey
ance, and from Uitzieshoek she was car
ried over the Drakensberg, nearly 5000
feet above the sea level, down to the sea
at Durham. BY the time she was
| fitted out she had cost between 9200 and
f300.
Before giving few details of one of
the most adventurous voyages that were
ever undertaken by men, L may describe
the arrangements of the Homeward
Bound. She is 20 feet long, has beam
of feet inches, and draws Al feet of
water. she is A. tons burden, and her
| rigging consists Of "a malnmast, with gait
and beam, carrying malnsail and gait top
sail, with two jibs, or one fOresall and one
jib. After the trip from Port Natal to
/ Table Bay topmast was added, and the
| Captain made other salls-a square sail
for running, square topsall for fine
weather, and III the trade winds stunsaiis
were put on, on both sides. Jumps of
| granite and sand bags were used for
ballast, and seven 20 gallon casks OF
| fresh water We're slowed away below the
main deck, each barrel being filed with
salt water as the fresh water WAS finished.
| Ii must be understood that the boat is an
| open boat In tie sense that it is little more
than a shell covered over with thin can
vas deck, well oiled, aud divided into two
! air tight cOmpartmentS-a small one aft
! Tor slowing the provisions, spare sails
and other materi Il, separated by a we'll,
| teet wide by feet inches deep by
2 feet inches long, from the larger pUr
| ton forward.
This was used as a cabin and general
! store room, and IA very extraordinary
| little mole 1t Is to be the home of three
! big men for ten months. 1t is entered
! from the well which 1 have described
| through Il small sliding door, through
/ which L crawied with great difficulty
| This Is what / saw: To begin with, the
| height is about feet inches, SO that it
is Impossible to Sit up, and there is only
room for two of the crew to lie down, the
third man being at the helm. Some
! blankets, rotten with salt water, covered
the floor, and coats, oIiskins, trousers,
| boots and shirts were piled up on either
side. The cabin is lighted by a little
window about foot long and six
inches wide. The compass being in
side, the man at the helm being able to
see tue needle from above. A little
auerold barometer is nailed up close to
the lamp. Ihe other dunnage was d
curious mixture OF odds aud ends, such
as sextan little mahogany sea chest,
strings of candles, Oreadbags, rusty scis
sOrs. knives, forks and spoons stuck in
to the beam overhead, bliiIes and pan
uIklus, fishing iues, log glass, fog horn,
CHARTS aud many other articles too num-
erUus to mention. Imagine this stulfy
little hole III the tropics, with the sun
overhead, aud not breath of wind; or
III Il hurricane with great seas beating
down on the canvas overhead, and driv-
ing the frail craft almost out of sight by
their weight. In the hot weather the
decks were kept cool by buckets of water,
but III bad weather the door was gener
ally kept open, and so well did she ride
the gales that only about half dozen
times was it found necessary to shut the
doorway. Ii the well filled, as it some
times did, the man at the helm gave it
Jerk and let as much water out as pos
sibie, and then all hands turned to and
baed. The men have suffered much
from the want of exercise, for the well
was their only exercise ground; and l
have given the dimensions of that al
ready. The galley stood here, little
paraffine stove III which everything was
cooked. They had ample supplies of
tea, coffee, a few bottles of rum for
medicinal purposes, sugar, biscuit, flour,
and an infinite variety of timed meats
vegetables and potatoes, running short
sometimes but getting fresh supplies at
one of the four ports at which they
touched.
1t was intensely interesting to hear
Capt. NiisUn's account of the trip. He
is a Norwegian who speaks very good
English, is passed merchant captain
who has been weatheriug storms for
twenty years IN every part of the globe,
who has fought in the Zulu war and
holds a certificate from Baker, of Bak
er's Horse, for his service during the
Basuto war. With such fire fellow FOR
a skipper it is not surprising that the
Homeward Bound reached British waters
after her desperate voyage. The captain
had taken ont his papers from a very
moist portmanteau on board, but we al
lourned to his lodgings and examined
its contents at leisure, for the crowd was
little too curious, and the cabin was not
exactly The place for an interview. Every
bit of paper was endued with romantic
halo. There were all manner of myster |
ious packets done up in scraps of news |
papers, certificates, mail books, note
l. l.. J LIZ tlnn